In the frame of the 6th European Union Framework Programme for Research and Development, Flexifunbar is an Integrated Project dedicated to small- and medium-sized companies. The consortium is composed of 50 partners from several traditional industrial sectors: textile, leather and paper. The objective of Flexifunbar is to promote and develop new innovative multi-functional flexible structures to examine the feasibility of making materials for use in many multisectorial industrial applications (health, building construction, transportation). You can find more details at http://www.flexifunbar.org
On April 10th, 2006 the management committee of the project organized a training session devoted to the new trends in standardisation and regulation in the fields of transportation (automotive, trains, aircraft...), with particular emphasis on fire related topics. Around 30 participants attended the training session which provided opportunities for academic and industrial scientists to meet the Flexifunbar consortium and to exchange views and network in the field of regulation and standardisation.
The presentations related to fire safety gave a good overview of developments and trends in the harmonisation of railways in Europe, US fire tests for automotive, flame retardants legislation and regulations for flame retardants in Europe, and requirements for aircraft materials. The titles and the speakers were:
Fire safety regulations, harmonisation and standardisation of rolling stock in Europe
J. Troitzsch, Fire Protection Service, Wiesbaden, Germany
Activities around the FMVSS302 test methods for cars
P. van Hees, J. Axelsson, P. Anderson, SP, Boras, Sweden
An overview of the legislation and regulations for flame retardants in Europe
A. Beard, Clariant GmbH, Hürth, Germany
Fire safety requirements from authorities and aircraft-producers for aircraft materials
E. Antonatus, BASF, Ludwigshafen, Germany
